You know, that new YouTube layout Google railroaded through the YouTube website, despite months of protests by the video-sharing community?

Well, it’s been six months now, and the consequences of Cosmic Panda are coming to light. Because, Cosmic Panda wasn’t just a layout, it’s a brand new business model for web entertainment.

YouTube’s economy was built on clicks and was that way since its inception. YouTubers developed full-time jobs on the site based on this click economy, and some even had six figure salaries, for years.

Cosmic Panda, however, is no longer about clicks, but user engagement, and now thousands of YouTubers are finding their traffic dropping anywhere from 30 – 90%, because of the new layout.

I wrote about the traffic and revenue losses here for the Daily Dot, but what I really wanted to write was a more opinionated piece about this rewriting of a digital economy, with insider-y explanations… and more colorful language.